The Pope's Tea

The return trip was faster than the journey there.

Ghost Douluo no longer held back. His bony hands gripped Xiao Ran and Hu Liena by an arm each, and the three became a streak of gray-white light skimming the treetops. Forty li of dense forest raced beneath them. Wind roared in Xiao Ran's ears, and he could barely keep his eyes open.

In less than half an hour, Spirit Hall's side gate came into view.

Ghost Douluo let go. Xiao Ran stumbled as he landed. Hu Liena fared better; her fox tail swayed lightly as she came to a steady stop, though her face was a little pale.

"Go back and rest." Ghost Douluo turned to leave, but after a few steps, he stopped without looking back.

"Xiao Ran. Tomorrow at noon, the Pope's Palace."

Xiao Ran's heart skipped a beat.

"She knows you broke through," Ghost Douluo said evenly. "Think carefully about what you'll say."

His cane tapped the ground, and his gray-white robe vanished around the end of the corridor.

Hu Liena turned to Xiao Ran, worry in her foxlike eyes. "Bibi Dong has never summoned anyone just for reaching level fifty. Not even one of the Golden Generation."

"I know." Xiao Ran touched the Ultraman Tiga Card inside his robe. It was no longer hot, but its warmth seemed branded into the fabric.

"What are you going to say?"

"The truth," Xiao Ran said. "The parts I can tell her."

Hu Liena watched him for a few seconds without pressing further. She patted his shoulder lightly, then returned to her room.

When Xiao Ran reached his dormitory, Yan was gone. Half a cold steamed bun and a note sat on the table: "Heard you went looking for a Soul Ring. You owe me a meal when you get back. —Yan"

He stuffed the bun into his mouth, sat down, and circulated his Soul Power.

His Soul Power at level fifty was nearly twice as abundant as before, like a galaxy flowing through his meridians. He called upon his five Soul Rings one by one, silver-blue patterns alternating with pitch-black lines. He switched freely between his first four Soul Skills, while the lightning of his Fifth Soul Skill was even more violent than expected.

But what held his attention most was Flowing Light Perception.

He closed his eyes and spread his spiritual power outward. Spirit Hall lit up in his perception. A mass of purple-red spiritual energy stirred in Hu Liena's room. Several powerful Soul Power signatures came from the Side Hall, one of them especially deep, like a bottomless ancient well.

Ghost Douluo.

His perception reached farther: the streets beyond Spirit Hall, the Soul Master Academy, the Training Ground. Countless points of light and spiritual fluctuations intertwined, dense as a map of the stars. He did not dare probe any farther and withdrew his spiritual power.

Tomorrow, Bibi Dong.

He had little choice. If she summoned him, he had to go. But what he said, and how much, was up to him.

The thought calmed him. He washed up, lay down, and fell asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow.

The next day at noon, Xiao Ran entered the Pope's Palace.

It was his first time inside the great hall. The ceiling soared overhead, with statues of past popes lining both sides. Light poured through stained-glass windows above, casting colorful shafts across the black-and-white marble floor. Incense hung in the air, cold and sharp with a metallic edge.

Bibi Dong sat at the far end of the hall. She wore no crown today. Her dark purple hair fell over her shoulders, and she wore a plain black dress. A cup of tea rested in her hand. She did not look up.

"You're here."

Her voice was quiet, yet it echoed through the hall several times.

Xiao Ran stopped below the steps and bowed. "Your Holiness."

Only then did Bibi Dong raise her eyes. Her gaze was level, neither oppressive nor probing. She simply watched him in silence. Yet Xiao Ran felt as though it peeled away the layers of Soul Power around him, trying to see what lay at his core.

"Ghost Douluo said you broke through. Level fifty, with a fifty-thousand-year Soul Ring." She lifted her tea and took a sip. "A Flash Shadow Light Beast?"

"Yes."

"And your Soul Skill?"

"Lightning." Xiao Ran did not hide it. "Silver-blue lightning that can turn into a dark form."

The cup in Bibi Dong's hand paused. She set it down and leaned forward slightly.

"Lightning." She repeated the word as though tasting something unfamiliar. "What is your Martial Soul?"

"Light."

"A light-attribute Martial Soul absorbs the Soul Ring of a light-attribute Soul Beast and awakens the power of lightning." Bibi Dong's voice remained even, but Xiao Ran heard the edge beneath it. "Interesting."

She rose and descended the steps. Her heels struck the marble slowly and sharply, one step after another, like a countdown. She stopped three paces from Xiao Ran and extended her right hand.

"Your hand."

Xiao Ran held out his right hand. Bibi Dong laid her fingertips on his wrist, and a vast, icy surge of spiritual power pierced his meridians. Xiao Ran grunted but did not retreat. It swept through his body, then stopped at his Fifth Soul Ring and lingered there for a long time.

Bibi Dong withdrew her hand and stepped back. Her expression had not changed, but something had appeared deep in her eyes that Xiao Ran could not read.

"Your Martial Soul is more than light," she said. Turning, she returned to her seat. "Go back and stabilize your power. I'll have an assignment for you in a few days."

Xiao Ran bowed and took his leave. As he reached the entrance, Bibi Dong's voice drifted after him, light and casual.

"When you absorbed that Soul Ring, did you see anything... you shouldn't have?"

Xiao Ran faltered for a step.

"No." He did not turn around.

"Mm. You may go."

Only when he left the Pope's Palace and the midday sun touched his face did Xiao Ran realize his back was soaked with cold sweat.

But she had not pressed him. She had not even mentioned the watcher Ghost Douluo had sensed. What did that mean? Did she not care that Xiao Ran knew someone was watching? Or—

Had she sent that person herself?

Xiao Ran drew a deep breath and hurried down the steps.

That night, he made a decision. Sitting on his bed, he placed the Ultraman Tiga Card on his knees and sank his spiritual power into the passive perception of his Fifth Soul Skill. The invisible net spread out again, past Spirit Hall's walls, past the lights of the Soul Master Academy, and beyond the outskirts of Sunset Forest.

Forty li away. The light-attribute source was still there.

Its heartbeat remained steady and slow, held down with deliberate restraint. This time, Xiao Ran brought his spiritual power a little closer. He faintly sensed an extraordinarily complex seal around the source. Layer upon layer of densely packed Soul Power patterns covered the entire core like a spiderweb.

And in the deepest part of the seal, something stirred.

Like an eye opening.

Xiao Ran yanked his spiritual power back and gasped for air. The Ultraman Tiga Card burned against his knees; its silver patterns flared for an instant, then faded. Cold sweat covered his forehead, and his heart hammered.

In that instant, he had felt it with terrible certainty: that thing knew he was watching.

And it was waiting for him.